1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of molecular biology and medicine. More specifically, it concerns diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic applications for cancer involving lincRNA.
2. Description of Related Art
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a form of leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells characterized by excess lymphoblasts.
Malignant, immature white blood cells continuously multiply and are overproduced in the bone marrow. ALL causes damage and death by crowding out normal cells in the bone marrow, and by spreading (infiltrating) to other organs. ALL is most common in childhood with a peak incidence at 2-5 years of age, and another peak in old age.
“Acute” refers to the relatively short time course of the disease (being fatal in as little as a few weeks if left untreated) to differentiate it from the very different disease of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which has a potential time course of many years. It is interchangeably referred to as lymphocytic or lymphoblastic. This refers to the cells that are involved, which if they were normal would be referred to as lymphocytes but are seen in this disease in a relatively immature (also termed “blast”) state.
Four decades ago, the survival rate for ALL was zero. The survival rate has improved since then due to development of therapies such as chemotherapies, radiation, steroids, and bone marrow transplants. However, such therapies can have devastating side effects or, in the case of bone marrow therapy, not be possible due to lack of a suitable donor. The earlier ALL is detected, the more effective the treatment. There is a need in the art for methods of detecting ALL at earlier stages and for therapies that are non-toxic, effective, and don't require donor tissue.